Report shows how indigenous people who survived forced sterilization can conceive again

A new report looks at how Indigenous people who have experienced coerced or coerced sterilization may be able to conceive in the future.

The report from the University of Ottawa Center for Health Law, Policy and Ethics and the Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice outlines the options, costs and barriers for survivors of coerced and coerced sterilization to restore fertility.

Options mentioned include tubal ligation reversal, in vitro fertilization (IVF), surrogacy, and egg donation.

“This is an opportunity, a possibility that many people may never have dreamed of having, to have a choice,” said Harmony Radsky, executive director of the Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice.

Radsky, who is from Wasoxing First Nation in Ontario, said this is just the beginning of exploring how survivors can create families after experiencing forced or coerced sterilization.

Lack of access to services and the lack of comfort Indigenous people feel when attempting to access those services still remain major barriers, she said.

“How many opportunities are there to have these discussions around reproductive justice,” Radsky asked.

“When was the first time information about those services and treatments was shared with them?”

Radsky said he also hopes to see progress on the issue when it comes to legislation. A Bill The bill, introduced by Métis senator Yvonne Boyer, aims to criminalize sterilization performed without consent.

Katy Bear, a survivor of forced sterilization two decades ago who recently gave birth to a baby girl, was one of the report’s co-authors.

Radsky said Beer’s contribution was important in understanding the broader implications of the issue.

The report recommends patient advocacy posts with lists of care providers who are experts in restoring fertility and creating more culturally safe guidelines for care providers.

Beers said of the approximately 300 members of the Survivors Circle who have experienced coerced or coerced sterilization, she is currently supporting about five women who hope to have a child again.

“It’s not only reopening trauma, but unfortunately, it’s creating new trauma to reverse what the government has done,” Baer said.

Survivors in general also need more information, he said — some of whom may not even know what happened to them.

“Even I didn’t know for many years what happened to me,” Beers said.

Additionally, survivors may be told by health care providers that sterilization can be easily reversed, which is not always the case. According to Radsky, issues accessing information about care, and the challenges of obtaining care in remote or isolated communities, can be significant barriers for survivors.

In addition to all these issues, the cost of reversal procedures is often high.

“Why did I have to pay $7,000 for something I never chose,” Baer said.

There is one in the survivors circle Treatment Assistance Fund Which offers people up to $30,000 to access reproductive technology like IVF and up to $10,000 for other services like therapy.

Professor Vanessa Gruben of the University of Ottawa, one of the report’s authors, said in a news release, “By examining costs, service availability and the importance of cultural safety, we aim to inform evidence-based policy and health system change. Ensuring that survivors have equitable access to reproductive care is an essential part of reconciliation.”

“The Indigenous experience of the health care system has been disappointing,” Radsky said.

“We have a lot more work to do with health care professionals within the assisted reproductive technology services available in Canada to ensure that those cultural protections are in place.”

Beers said he hopes people will reach out to their local Members of Parliament and ask them to support the bill.